$345,000 Paquet Double Eagle - One of two sold at Sotheby's (Courtesy Sotheby's)

One of two known 1861 gold Double Eagles minted in Philadelphia by engraver Anthony C. Paquet sold at Sotheby's Dallas Bank Coin Collection Sale for $345,000 (including buyer's premium). The Paquet Double Eagle was the first attempt to change the design of this coin, and this sale was believed to be the first appearance of this specimen since 1877.

Anthony C. Paquet was a journeyman engraver who was born in Hamburg, Germany in 1814. Around 1848, at age 34 he came to the United States, and in 1857, he was hired as an assistant engraver after having completed freelance work for the U.S. Mint.

The 1861 Paquet Double Eagle was created in an attempt to improve the then current design of the circulating Twenty-Dollar coinage. Beset with technical problems related to its being struck for general circulation, the design met its demise at the hands of short-sighted Mint employees. There are only two known survivors of Paquet's work.